John Stewart Tribute Concert

When: Saturday, Nov. 20, 7 p.m.

Where: 11132 Pinehurst Dr., Lakeside

Tickets: $25

Online: darkthirty.com

Jimmy Duke is such a huge music fan that he turned his Lakeside house into a concert venue 12 years ago, complete with a permanent stage in the living room and overflow seating on the deck. But when it came time to invite one of his favorite singer/songwriters over for a show, Duke was too big a fan to do it.

“It took me two years to actually get a date for John Stewart because I was just so scared,” Duke said of Stewart, best known as one-third of the Kingston Trio and the writer of the Monkees’ “Daydream Believer.” “When you’re looking up at this god on earth, this musical genius, you don’t know how to approach him.”

Eventually, Duke found his nerve and John Stewart found a new musical home. The San Diego-born singer/songwriter played nine shows on that living-room stage before his death in 2008, including a 2005 concert in honor of Duke’s 70th birthday. Duke turns 75 this weekend, and he will celebrate it by honoring the man whose songs still make him feel like a million bucks.

On Saturday, Dark-Thirty is hosting a John Stewart Memorial Tribute Concert featuring Tim Dismang ﻿and the John Stewart Band, along with performances by Shana Morrison (daughter of Van Morrison), Joey Harris of the Beat Farmers (who played in Stewart’s band from 1975 to 1979), and Stewart’s wife, Buffy Ford Stewart.

“John loved Jimmy, and so do I,” Ford Stewart said via e-mail. “He loved playing there. It is very cozy and it feels like family.”

As always with “Dark-Thirty” concerts — named after the shows’ starting time, which is usually 30 minutes after the sun sets — there will be chairs on the deck, a complimentary potluck dinner in the kitchen and dedicated fans coming out of the woodwork.

“The first time we played a show there, I drove up to the house and I thought, ‘This can’t be right.’ ” John Stewart Band bass player Dave Batti said of Duke’s place, which is on an unmarked street just past a blind curve. “But that room invites you to play things and play them well. You need to be prepared to play your best there, because people are really paying close attention.”

An exacting performer who demanded the best from his band and his audiences, Stewart was not terribly enthusiastic about playing his inaugural Dark-Thirty house concert in 2000. Sensing Stewart’s first-timer’s doubts, Duke sent a limousine to pick him up in Coronado, where Stewart was staying with former Kingston Trio bandmate Nick Reynolds, who also died in 2008. Duke figured if Stewart’s experience started on a high note, it might end on one, too.

The gesture paid off, perhaps a little too well. Stewart and his band played to a full house of rapt music fans. And when it was over, Stewart uttered the phrase that struck new fear in the heart of his worshipful host.